MEMORIES OF A NATIONAL SERVICEMAN

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                 Gibraltar  1953/54

                                                  TREVOR SIDAWAY
                       
ROYAL ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

                  Resting in Tangier—at the EL Farhar                

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Until it was granted its independence in 1956, Tangier was an international zone initially administered             T o exemplify its International status,

 by France, Spain and the UK and then in 1923, joined by Italy, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, USA and                stamps were issued by several countries

Portugal and at the end of WW2 the Soviet Union also became involved                                                        

With this colourful mix of Nations attempting to control a North African City, strategically sited on the

 gateway to the Mediterranean, it is of little surprise that it became a hotbed of political chicanery, was

the centre of smuggling of all kinds, including drugs, served as a playground for eccentric millionaires,

a meeting place for all kinds of characters--many of questionable background--and a mecca for

 speculators and gamblers of all sorts                                                                                                                              British            Spanish            Moroccan

Its residents and visitors included many talented and gifted writers and artists including Americans                                  

Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote, the British author and playwright Joe Orton also lived

there as did Kenneth Williams the much loved British comedian and humorist

The richest woman in the World—Barbara Hutton—was there, as was the legendary Hollywood star

and hell raiser Errol Flynn

It was also the adopted home of the multi talented author and composer, Paul Bowles and his wife Jane

                                                                 -----------------------------

 

It was April 1954 and the three of us—Roger Merricks, John Gregson and me--all REME conscripts,                                 

were off to Tangier

We were aware that we were going to a city on another continent, which encompassed many cultures,

including an exotic Arab culture, and we knew of its reputation as a City of mystery and intrigue but

we were off to a small family run Hotel on the outskirts of the City, far removed from the glitter of

Tangier—or so we thought

                        The Algeciras to Tangier ferry—the good ship “Virgen de Africa”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                     Holiday subsidized by the Military in Gibraltar

We were amongst the first to take advantage of an arrangement, between the Military in Gibraltar and

the owners of the El, Farhar Hotel, which allowed personnel to stay at the Hotel at discounted rates in

return for free issue ration packs, provided by the military
These packs were carried with us, they were boxes full of tinned fruit and vegetables, they were stacked

high and it took a lot of effort to move them around and to load them on and off the ship The

arrangement with the Garrison Quartermaster at Gibraltar must have been a good one for the El Farhar!!

 

                        Gibraltar pictured from the Algeciras/Tangier ferry in April 1954

 

 

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X marks the spot of the REME Camp, known as Governor’s Cottage Camp, and the view , over the

Straights, was very special with a constant stream of ships sailing east and west and at night the lights in

the Spanish Moroccan  town of Ceuta could be seen twinkling  on the horizon     

The cloud, caused by the warm easterly wind known as the levante, can be clearly seen obscuring the

summit, it sometimes settled for many days and tended to lower the spirits of Military and Civilians alike

The concrete water catchments, can be clearly seen on the right

 

     A surly looking Trevor Sidaway pictured on a transit pass to Tangier, via Algeciras 

                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Pass was a special arrangement between Gibraltar and Spain for military personnel

             It was subsequently withdrawn as relations with Franco's Spain deteriorated

 

                                         Arriving in Tangier  

 

                        Entering Tangier harbour with fellow REME conscript John Gregson

                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                            Just around the headland was the site of the El Farhar

 

                                            Approaching the city of Tangier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                

                                                              

 

 

                          The City covered an area of 150 sq miles was and home to half a million

                             souls with French, Spanish, English and Arabic being widely spoken

 

As we got to the harbour we sailed past a few ships that were beached and rusting away, we later found

 that these had been abandoned by smugglers, and the scene when we docked was an eye opener.

We were immediately confronted with a hubbub of noise and activity, and of extremes—donkeys and

carts side by side with modern taxis and similar contrasts amongst the populous—an old Arab woman,

small, dumpy and barefoot, carrying a mountain of cut wooden branches on her head, side by side with

another Arab woman, elegantly and expensively dressed from head to foot with painted finger and toe

nails, her black eyes flashing above her veil

Striding up and down the key side was a tall and slender Arab, clearly looking for someone onboard the

ship, shouting something that sounded like a very guttural “farrrrrh  farrrrh”

It was his pronunciation of “El Farhar”-he was there to meet us and he had a taxi waiting-a good start!

 

 

                                           The El Farhar Hotel

                               (also known as the House on the Mountain)

The El Farhar was on the western outskirts of the city, I can’t remember much about the Hotel itself,

inside we only got as far as the dining room (we were housed in separate bungalow in the grounds).

But I well recall the terrace area, overlooking a small bay, and a pleasant zig-zag pathway down a steep

incline to a sandy beach.

On one side of the terrace was a small bar, complete with piano, and behind the bar a small garden

area with a swing

In the grounds leading down to the beach were the bungalows—five I think—and we were billeted in one

of them.

The setting was very peaceful, the bungalows comfortable, the sun was shining and we looked forward to

a holiday that promised to be very different from those usually spent by most military in the bordellos of

the Spanish border town La Linea de la Conception

It lived up to its promise but we were blissfully unaware that there was a lot more to the El Farhar than

its small family-run image portrayed

 

Roger "Brummie" Merricks, Mustapha the barman and me in the grounds of the EL Farhar Hotel
                

 

 

 

 

 

                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                              Pictured in the direction of Tangier

   The secluded sandy beach can be seen in the background, down through the hotel grounds

 

                                         

                                                          The Buckinghams

Winthrop Buckingham, an American, and his wife Ellen Irene, the daughter of an English clergyman,

owned and ran the El Farhar Hotel. They had six children, five daughters and a son

 

          The Buckingham family line-up, pictured in the early 1950’s on the El Farhar terrace ;

                                                   Dad     Mom   and    the six “ kids”

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                                    Winthrop   Ellen-Irene   Marilyn   Ida-Ma y/Barbara-Ann   Zoe          Dizzy     Robert

                                                                                                            (twins)

 

So, with five daughters, there was no shortage of pretty girls around, although we saw few of them except

 for the youngest Dizzy (Patricia Desiree) who, by the time we arrived a few years later, had matured into

a young teenager and had certainly dumped her bobby-sox.

Robert wasn’t around—he was at a boarding school in England                                                                     

Dizzy was always in the company of her close friend Yvonne and we became quite friendly but they had a

very annoying habit of switching from English to French in the middle of a conversation, it was an

obvious tease, my schoolboy French wasn’t up to it and got me a little riled, in spite of that Dizzy did

regularly invite me to “have a go” on the swing in the enclosed back garden!

One evening, we messed things up totally by failing to turn up to a party—we went downtown instead-- we

later discovered the party had been specially arranged by the girls for our benefit —so that was a missed

opportunity!!!

                                                                             C’est  la vie!

 

We took our meals in the Hotel, together with the Buckingham family, the only minus was that there was

another Englishman there, he turned out to be a rather snobbish Royal  Artillery Captain from Gibraltar

and he clearly didn’t relish the thought of dining with a bunch of National Service squaddies-- I can’t recall

 that he caught my eye once during the whole week

To make matters worse, it turned out that he had extended his stay at the El Farhar by one week and we

had to ship his extra rations as well as ours which accounted for the “mountain” of food that we had to

carry from Gibraltar

                                                           He could at least have said thanks!

 

                                                                       A bar pianist

I also recall a pianist, who seemed to be North African although he wore Western style clothes, he played

some very haunting Arabic music on the bar piano, I’d heard very little of that type of music before and

although a piano seemed to be an odd type of instrument for such music it made an impression on me that

lasts to this day

                                                                       On the Beach

The small sandy cove was at the bottom of the Hotel grounds and was effectively a private beach; the

weather was perfect so we spent a fair amount of time there

 

                                      Top o’ the World Ma                     and                Top o’ John Gregson

 


                                                     

                                                                                         

                                                                                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dog belonged to the Arab "minder" of three teenage girls, formally dressed--cloaks, headscarves,

 yashmaks.They stripped off, almost starkers, frolicked in the surf, dried off, redressed--complete with

                                                                Yashmaks and off they went

       

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                      Even the dog had his ears pricked!

 

The day before we left we were joined by other guests—two well built English women, one of whom was

reputed to be a sculptor—they were not very friendly

 

 

                       World famous celebrities at the El Farhar

 

So the holiday was over and  all that  we  were expecting—pretty quiet and peaceful in a very friendly

 family run place made a little more interesting by the unexpected “ gaggle” of Buckingham daughters

However, it wasn’t until years later, when I researched the place a little, that I became aware of its

 pretty colourful history

 

In the late 1940’s and early 50’s Tangier was a haven for a set of artistic and gifted people, some of

whom had cultivated a reputation for a flamboyant and questionable lifestyle and it slowly began to

dawn on me that there was more to the El Farhar than I had assumed and that, over the years, it had

played host to some of these personalities

 

Amongst these was Truman Capote, the legendary American writer, best known for writing

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and for the massive success of his non-fiction book “In Cold Blood” this was

 published in 1966 and made into a Hollywood film in 1967

To celebrate its success he staged what is accepted as the biggest and best party ever seen in

New York City with guests from the world of high society, politics and the arts

The list included such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow, Arthur Miller, Lauren Bacall,

 Henry Ford 11, Henry Fonda, Darryl F Zanuk, Gregory Peck, Vincente Minelli to name but a few

It was called the “Black and White Ball” all the men in black tie and all the women in white and it

marked the end of an era as the “Party to end all Parties”

He went on to have other stories turned into movies and in 2005, the Hollywood film “Truman Capote

 was released and won an Oscar for its leading man—Phillip Seymour Hoffman

 

                                                      Truman Capote Dancing with Marilyn

 

 

 


                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                             He was less than 5ft 4in tall and was openly gay

 He died in 1984, aged 59, from liver disease complicated by multiple drug intoxication, symptoms of his

 flamboyant and often outrageous lifestyle

 

                                         Truman Capote on the beach at the EL Farhar

                   Truman Capote on the left and Cecil Beaton second right with the headband

                                                       Jane Bowles is looking out to sea

 


                        

 

                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For many years Cecil Beaton was the official photographer to the Royal Family and was a leading fashion

photographer and stage designer. He won two Academy Awards for Costume Design in the Broadway

musicals “Gigi” and “My Fair Lady” and four Tony Awards.  He was knighted in 1972

 

                      Alec Guinness comes to tea at the El Farhar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture on the left of Mr and Mrs Buckingham was taken at one of their five daughters weddings

Behind them, sporting an eye-patch, is a Michael Scott, he lived in a very large house on the headland

behind the El Farhar—it can be seen as a white blob, over the shoulder of Roger Merricks in one of

 the earlier photos

He was a family friend and on one occasion when he was invited round to tea at the El Farhar he asked

if it was OK to bring along a friend who was staying with him—that someone happened to be none other

than Alec Guiness

I’m told that the Buckingham’s youngest daughter Dizzy bumped into him in the living room and hasn’t

 been the same since

The year was likely to be 1953 when he was in filming both in Gibraltar and Tangier on the film

“The Captains Paradise

The story line was of a ferry captain who had wives in both ports and made the most of it!

 

                     Paul and Jane Bowles at the El Farhar

 Paul Bowles and his wife Jane were writers and Paul in particular was a multi-talented and very

successful writer, composer and translator of European and Arabic stories

For many years Tangier was his adopted home and in the late 40’s he rented one of the bungalows at the

El Farhar on a long lease keeping company with the many gifted, sometimes notorious, and often very

rich people who found their way there.

His first novel—The Sheltering Sky—written in 1949, was made into a Hollywood film in 1990 and three

of his short stories were brought to the screen in “Halfmoon”

One of the stories—Merkala Beach—was written when he was residing at the El Farhar

 

      A downed American WW2 pilot at the El Farhar

During WW2 the American owner of the El Farhar, Winthrop Buckingham, was involved in gathering

intelligence for the Anglo American authorities in Tangier and on one occasion  smuggled a downed

American Pilot into the Hotel, took care of him, and finally rowed him out from the beach to a waiting

submarine

                                    Details of his wartime activities are mentioned in the book

                       about the OSS  “Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs” by Patrick K. O’Donnell

 

So the El Farhar, rather than the stereotyped small, family owned,

out of town Hotel that three REME conscripts from Gibraltar  were

expecting, was in reality a haven for a few of the jet setting glitterati

 that had been drawn to Tangier in the 1940’/50’s and had also

 played a role in the Allied cause in WW2

 

                           And the El Farhar now

The Buckinghams finally sold up and moved out of the Hotel, into the five bungalows in the Hotel

grounds—the very ones that we were housed in--and the youngest daughter, Dizzy, still resides

there with her family

                                                           

 

 

                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A recent photograph of one of the bungalows in                              And the view from the Hotel grounds hasn’t

        the grounds of the old El Farhar Hotel                                              changed in more than 50 years

 

 

                                                        The Buckingham family now